Nvidia 680 GTX Inbound

[sobek]

(Which AMD seems to agree with, since they've started reducing the amount of outs on cards to more "normal" ranges even if they could support 6.)

 

Well theoretically you should be able to negate that with the new display port standard, but that doesn't work yet. :noexpression:

[EtherealN]

Aye. I think one of their considerations for doing the switch already (and they don't do it for all cards AFAIK) was that there is a pretty limited real estate budget and it's always nice to get as much air exhaust as possible out of the computer - but if there's ports there...

 

But of course, even with the "cut", the AMD cards still feed 3 displays as-is, and nVidia feed only 2 even when they (like mine) does have 3 ports. And for most games, 3 screens is infinitely more useful than 2 - you don't want to have screen bezels in the middle of the screen in a shooter. :P A bit disappointing that nVidia hasn't at least made it so we can use all three ports at the same time.

[Togg]

But of course, even with the "cut", the AMD cards still feed 3 displays as-is, and nVidia feed only 2 even when they (like mine) does have 3 ports.

Maybe the HDMI port is shared with a DVI port like AMD ?

[PoleCat]

~

 

Unless nVidida follow ATI path and start producing video cards that can run more than 2 monitors, they don't need more than 2GB of video RAM.

 

This is the deciding factor for me. 3 monitors = 1X ATI card or 2X Nvidia cards.

 

ATI wins and with performance like I am getting from their cards. The only thing left to like better about Nvidia in my mind is the drivers. Without supporting at least 3 monitors on a single card they are going to lose a lot of the enthusiast market. Get with it Nvidia!

 

Out

[Pyroflash]

People with big enough desks to support three monitors make me jelly. I need to get out of this dorm.

[EtherealN]

Maybe the HDMI port is shared with a DVI port like AMD ?

 

I have a foggy memory that says this is correct, but I'm not 100%.

[WynnTTr]

If I may add something. As a LONG time buyer of ATI cards (starting with the old X800's), I haven't had all that many issues with them personally up until very recently. As you can see in my signature I have a HD 5870, which is an alright card. It isn't bad, and it was excellent for its time (two years ago roughly). However, recent driver packages for it have absolutely removed my access to the CCC, and on top of that, every single driver "update" removes my settings and forces me to reconfigure them from scratch.

I've never had to redo any of my settings, presets or profiles when updating AMD drivers. I just use the express uninstall and express install. Everything's kept as they were. Gotta say it's relatively painless.

 

I started out with NVidia but after wanting to play with 3 screens the only choice (at the time) was an ATI card or Nvidia SLI. So ATI it was.

 

With all the hype surrounding drivers I was hesitant in switching but when I did, I never had any problems in game with AMD/ATI drivers, everything worked as it should. My games still played. The driver issues were just all that - hype.

In fact the only thing I missed was not having profiles for specific game exe's that Nvidia has. Now with the 12.1 CCC drivers that fixes that - CCC now has profiles but it sure took them long enough.

 

Having said that the next purchase I might make is back to Nvidia IF they give NVSurround support off the one card. I might be playing for red atm but I started out with green and that's where my sentiments lie.

[WynnTTr]

If you're referring to me, then sorry, I didn't clarify my post. I've got a 6950 CF setup currently but at the time of getting my first 6950 (when they were first released) I did a lot of research on the performance of the card. That poking around led me onto the pros and cons of ATI/Nvidia and one of the pros for ATI was the fact that you could have Eyefinity off the one card v SLI requirement for NVsurround.

 

So I thought cool, playing with three screens sounds neat and gave it a shot and it worked really well. Couple of months after I got my second 6950. Not for wanting the extra performance mind you but more for curiosity's sake. Doesn't make much difference in DCS as CF isn't optimised well. I still play DCS with CF off so effectively one 6950.

 

I play @5760x1080, all settings maxed and get about 20-25fps on the ground with other aircraft. Goes up to about 30-45fps in the air so it's definitely playable.

[WynnTTr]

Oh forgot - My next purchase will be either the 7970 or 680 but as I said in my first post that'll depend on whether the 680 will support NvSurround off the one card. If not, then it's the 7970 for me.

 

From what I hear 6950 CF slightly edges the 7970 in games where CF works. That's pretty damn good for a single GPU and a bit temptation for me. What's not to like - one GPU matching my CF setup but without all the problems of CF/SLI.

[CheckSix]

Terminal,

 

Hey bud. From what I've read on the forums, there isn't much of an FPS penalty going from one monitor to two or three, especially when using an ATI-based card. I imagine NVidia shouldn't be hit that hard, especially if you're going to be getting one of the new 600 series cards.

 

But to the Esteemed DCS Board Members, am I correct in saying that the GPU has to wait until the CPU draws the picture? (I think you all know where this is headed). :cry:

 

As you know, I run a slightly-overclocked (factory) GTX590. As noted on many FPS-comparison analysis threads, differences in FPS between running this GPU and others, including comparable ATI and NVidia offerings (580,570,560ti, etc..) using similar CPU clock frequencies are relatively the same. So...what does that tell us? :cry: :cry:

 

True...the lure of the latest GPU is most enticing. And I'm sure you will pick up a few FPS as a result. But...so long as the CPU market remains status quo as to clock frequencies, and assuming no change in sim source code, you may be disappointed with your new purchase. I'd wait a bit. :)

 

CS

[KLR Rico]

True...the lure of the latest GPU is most enticing. And I'm sure you will pick up a few FPS as a result. But...so long as the CPU market remains status quo as to clock frequencies, and assuming no change in sim source code, you may be disappointed with your new purchase. I'd wait a bit. :)

 

+1 on that.

 

If I turn off all the post processing settings (AA, HDR, etc.), I'm CPU bound to around 40-50 FPS in the instant action missions. The only thing I picked up by upgrading from a 8800GT to a 560 GTX is now I can max out all the post processing effects. Even then, the visual impact isn't a night and day difference.

[Slayer]

I have a foggy memory that says this is correct, but I'm not 100%.

 

I'm pretty sure that the reason is because they do not wan't their quadro users that pay big bucks for high end cards that work on more than 2 monitors to start using cheaper gaming cards. I read some article about this some time ago. It's purely about marketing and $$$ maybe this has changed but I don't think so.

[Depth]

But to the Esteemed DCS Board Members, am I correct in saying that the GPU has to wait until the CPU draws the picture? (I think you all know where this is headed). :cry:

CS

Depends on the software. Sometimes it's the other way around. DCS is mostly hindered by CPU, I believe, due to the sheer scale of what needs to be rendered and computed.

 

Fancy details up close = GPU, Basic graphics on a grand scale = CPU.

Merging the two =:smoke:

[Slayer]

I'm a big Nvidia supporter but this is way overdue. They had good multi support in XP then gutted it and moved it over to their "professional" graphics cards and want you to pay big bucks for it. Finally AMD is pushing them back in the other direction.

 

Not long ago the desktop and professional boards were exactly the same with only a different BIOS yet they charge $2500.00 and called it a "Quadro" All you had to do was flash a different BIOS and install the quadro driver.

 

Don't believe? http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia-mosaic-technology.html

 

People act like it's something new for the 680....it's not they just gimped the desktop cards to justify their overpriced workstation products.

[cichlidfan]

People act like it's something new for the 680....it's not they just gimped the desktop cards to justify their overpriced workstation products.

 

Can't disagree with you but I am still happy to see the capability!

[Slayer]

Can't disagree with you but I am still happy to see the capability!

 

I'm happy about this also. Just goes to prove that competition is good for us.

 

Going to wait for others to make the plunge first on this though before I buy it. Trying to run in spanning mode right now with any other monitor, be it USB, DVI or whatever is broken. Running 3+ monitors in non spanned mode forces current Nvidia users to resort to SoftTH or suffer terrible FPS. Personally I'd rather just have to set it up in windows then tweak my DCS configs then run through SoftTh because when ED eventually gets around to updating to their graphics to DX 11, any setup that relies on that will be broken also.

 

I suspect that this will all be done via drivers and hopefully it will trickle down to the older generations of cards that support spanning currently but I'm not holding my breath.

[WynnTTr]

Wow multiple monitors off the one card?? Yes! Finally Nvidia get their act together.

[EtherealN]

Wow multiple monitors off the one card?? Yes! Finally Nvidia get their act together.

 

They've had that for a long time. Say "more than two" and you're correct though. :)

 

You have to remember that such many-monitor (as opposed to simple dual-monitor, which is what I have on my current 560Ti) is extremely niche. I doubt even 5% of people who purchase these cards would use it, which makes it an issue of whether to spend money implementing it across the board for those few people. It appears they previously decided not to and save component costs - two of the outs on the 5xx series used to be "doubled" for example.

 

Will be interesting to see what they do with the slightly less upmarket models like the 670 and whatever ends up replaces the 560 in the mid-market.

[Pyroflash]

I wish.. I keep trying to buy it from newegg and all it is saying is "product not found".

[Pyroflash]

More monitors doesn't exactly double the memory, and if an SLI setup with only 2 GB of memory can do it, I doubt that it is going to change by moving to a single card (keep in mind that when you setup XFire or SLI, you only use the memory of one of the cards, not all of them). And yes, it is definitely enough memory.

[71st_Mastiff]

I will never buy a top of the line card. It is a waste of money IMHO. Value falls away like water off a roof.

 

I think a card two steps down from the best in each of Nvidia's and ATI's line is the right value for the money.

 

400-500 for a Video card is insane money.

 

Out

 

and paying $500.00 dollars for a joystick isn't?

 

:pilotfly:

[rextar]

I just ordered mine from TigerDirect. EVGA GTX 680 on it's way.

 

Melt do they ship to the UK?

[71st_Mastiff]

the GTX 680 Show

 

Canada already getting this?

 

 

 

[71st_Mastiff]

This is what the USA gets when we farmd out all our factories to China. Late releases, we'll be the last to see this until April.

[Lallan]

Cannot wait to get my hands on one of these BEASTS!!!£50 more expensive than a 7970 and the 680 is to get cheaper as well (supposedly) and the performance is just amazing :O